Olivier Assayas: Talking 'bout his generation With over twenty films to his credit as a director, there is no categorizing an Assayas-film. Each film stands alone, yet is still definitively a bit of a larger puzzle. A possible common denominator could be sensual, intelligent, or for that matter, intellectual. It has been said that his work is informed by a restless elegance; no matter which genre he has undertaken – contemporary relationship drama, period costume drama, playful satire, chamber piece, global action thriller, concert film – he challenges the conventions with style. How then do justice to such a diverse body of work with a selection of only six films? As it turns out, the theme would have to be music. Says Assayas: «When I began making films, I was inspired in part by the desire to share what I feel when I listen to rock music… I tried to show how it was music more than cinema that gave me the most intense artistic emotions.» For Olivier Assayas, music is more than a soundtrack, more than a backdrop, more than a mood – music serves as a model for his approach to filmmaking, and a catalyst for his idea-driven scripts. We would suggest that music can serve as an introduction to the films of Olivier Assayas for those who don’t know them. For those who do, the function and the use of music in his films is worth a study of its own. It is also the study of a musical generation. Meanwhile, a musical overview of the sidebar:
disorder , the story of the dreams and trials of the members of a post-punk band, features the music of The Woodentops and New Order as well as the romantic strains of Academy Award-nominated composer Gabriel Yared. cold water is set in 1972, and the music of those turbulent times (Janis Joplin, Nico, Roxy Music, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, among others) also characterizes the emotional turmoil of the young teenagers at the center of the plot. In irma vep Sonic Youth turns up for the first time in a film by Assayas, and so do Luna («the best band you never heard of», according to Rolling Stone) doing Serge Gainsbourg’s hit Bonnie and Clyde, contrasted later with Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder with the beautiful love song Soukora. Sonic Youth are back in demonlover with an entire soundtrack articulating the tension of this techno neo-noir global thriller. Then comes clean, starring Maggie Cheung as a heroin-addicted rock vocalist with a dead husband, a small son, and a jail sentence. The music is by Brian Eno and the song that Maggie sings in the film is written for her by Mazzy Star’s David Roback. (Roback appears in the film as himself, as do Tricky and Metric.) Finally there is noise, basically the documentation of a festival evening curated by the director himself, with performances by Mirror/Dash (Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore), Text of Light (Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo). Jim O’Rourke isn’t far away. Then there is Metric, Jeanne Balibar, Marie Modiano, Afel Bakoum, White Tahina… In the end, a list of names says almost nothing about what music really means for this filmmaker. But like the trail of bread crumbs laid out for Hansel and Gretel, perhaps these names will lead the way to surprising film experiences in the company of one of the most exciting progressive directors on the scene today.
INSTITUT FRANÇAIS AND CINEMA The Institut Français is the agency for the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs with responsibility for cultural activity outside France. It works to promote artistic exchanges and dissemination of the French language, books and knowledge. It also complements the role of UniFrance Films by promoting French patrimonial cinema, the non-commercial screening of recent films, and showcasing its professionals. The Institut Français supports world cinema through the «Cinémas du Monde» pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, the Cinémathèque Afrique, and Fonds Sud Cinéma for the funding of films, which the Institut français manages alongside the National Centre for Cinematography and the Moving Image. www.institutfrancais.com
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